Passamaquoddy Bay Is What `Down East' Is All About

Sunrise Sunset

At first there were only a few cars on the pier across the bay waters to Canada's Campobello Island. Eventually, a half dozen more parked in the evening dusk.

An outsider might have figured they were waiting in line for the last ferry of the day across Passamaquoddy Bay.

But an outsider would have been wrong.

In this tiny Maine town of Eastport -- actually, in most towns on the bay -- visiting the pier appears to be an evening ritual, sort of like stopping for ice cream.

FOR THE RECORD - Correction was published May 21, 1998 on Page A2.* A lighthouse on the cover of the Travel section May 17 was misidentified. It is the Mulholland Lighthouse on Lubec Channel. The lighthouse is within the Roosevelt- Campobello International Park on Campobello Island, Canada. It faces Lubec, Maine, across Lubec Narrows.

Neighbors chat, kids horse around and everyone gets something delicious to end the day -- the sunset.

On this night, it began with a few clouds that drifted in as the sky turned pink, then mauve, then nearly red as gold light played across the edges of things. A rainbow appeared for the last five minutes and faded with the light.

It was all over in less than a quarter of an hour, and then everyone said their goodnights.

Simple pleasures are what a trip to ``Down East'' is all about.

Publicizing something called the Quoddy Loop -- a day trip around the communities on Passamaquoddy Bay -- is pretty much all there is to tourism promotion in these parts.

The Loop is a road and sea route that takes a traveler on an interesting journey by ferry and car to two small islands -- Campobello and Deer Island -- and to a major Canadian summer resort town before circling around back into Maine. For some, it might be more comfortable to make the trip in two days, giving extra time to appreciate the wild beauty and quiet pace that drew the wealthiest families to summer here a century ago.

The region's unspoiled charm offers sightings of seals or whales, not T-shirt shops.

That's especially true in Eastport, the final stop on the Loop.

Eastport's history has been shaped by the ebbs and flows of the fishing and fish- packing industries, a pattern that has left deeper marks on its neighbor to the south, Lubec, a struggling town that once boasted 24 sardine factories.

In addition to their similar pasts, Eastport and Lubec share a good- natured rivalry about which is the easternmost point in the United States, first to see the sun rise each day.

Eastport is the place to end the Loop and stop for a meal or browse a shop or two. The start of a journey on the Loop will likely begin at FDR's beloved Campobello Island.

Campobello Island

Campobello was President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's oasis of tranquility every summer from 1885 until the summer of 1921 when he contracted polio there.

It remains a Canadian oasis for all who visit its isolated shores, either to see FDR's summer home -- open to the public since 1964 -- or to watch for whales near the East Quoddy Lighthouse, known as Head Harbor.

Within the 2,800-acre Roosevelt- Campobello International Park are the cottage and grounds where FDR vacationed -- sailing, hiking, playing games and horseback riding.

The house is modest compared to the image you might have of a compound for the wealthy. But it's not small.

Its 34 rooms -- you only tour 26 -- accommodated the Roosevelt brood as well as a large contingent of servants.

It retains a rustic feel, however; there was no electricity or telephone at the house until 1952.

Tour guides take groups through the house and offer information about daily life at the compound and some interesting historical tidbits.

In addition to describing the rooms and furnishings, the guides point out items such as a set of duelling pistols FDR and Eleanor bought while honeymooning in Paris (they were never used) and a wooden ship he carved for toy ship races with his children.

Before taking the brief, flower- edged walk to the summer cottage, most visitors stop at a welcome center where they can see a 15-minute film. Many grainy black-and-white photographs of the Roosevelts tell of the family's history. Visitors can also visit an exhibit that includes audio of Roosevelt speeches and some old film footage of him and various family members.

The film is narrated by Franlin D. Roosevelt Jr., who was 6 years old in August 1921 when his father became seriously ill with a very high temperature.

``His legs just wouldn't stand up,'' he says on the video, recalling that his father remained at Campobello for several more weeks before agreeing to seek medical for treatment.

As FDR was carried down to the family yacht on a stretcher, his son recalls, he was upbeat.

``I'll never forget the wonderful, confident smile that he was going to lick it. . . . But he didn't come back much after that,'' he says.

After the polio, FDR returned to Campobello only a few times -- hampered by his condition and distracted by his increasingly important political roles -- although the family continued to summer there.

FDR, who was governor of New York from 1929 to 1933, later was elected president an unprecedented four times.

A few miles from Roosevelt park is an inconspicuous dirt road, down which is the path to the next leg of the Quoddy Loop -- a ferry ride to Deer Island.